…And just as that uncreative title suggests, the following is an excerpt from a work-in-progress short story. If you dig it feel free to tell me why (or why not!) in the comments section- hopefully I’ll have the remainder posted soon!

It was dusk, and just as the feelings of utter disdain and cynicism had washed away mere hours prior he watched as the pub around him emptied. Not your average watering hole for sure- most places would just be picking up around this time. But not this one, and that’s exactly what he was counting on.
Jornado sat at his favorite corner booth, the one furthest from the bar, and proceeded in his nightly ritual. Before him sat a blank notebook, an ink pen, and half a mug of beer.

The idea that you can even write in such a place is laughable at best, sir.

That fucking voice.

As a matter of fact, the idea you can even write period is just beyond-

“Shut up. Shut up!” in the next booth over a few patrons whipped around at his sudden outburst- Jornado flushing a bright pink. “S-sorry…” he managed quietly before pointing at his phone. “Bad call.” The patrons exchanged confused glances before making their way out of the corner. Jornado glanced at his phone- it was off.

Feeling sheepish yet?

Flustered, his attention once again turned to the items placed before him.

Ah, the ritual…

Every night he attempted the same thing. Show up to his favorite spot, drink away the day prior, and write. But just like every other night only two of the items on that checklist were being completed.

Does it make you feel important, carrying on this charade?

“I can do this.” He made sure to keep this conversation quiet- after all, there were lingering patrons.

You say that, but we both know you don’t believe that. If experience is any kind of teacher…

“It’s just a block. Everyone goes through blocks.”

But like this? It’s been years, Jornado. You’ve lost yourself somewhere- do you realize this?

“I’m still here. I’m still me.”

Are you really though? How do you know this for sure?

“I…don’t…” Jornado thought for a moment. Did he know?
“Excuse me?” Chills ran down his spine. It was one of the patrons from earlier. He didn’t dare make eye contact. How long had she been standing there? “I couldn’t help but notice you’ve been alone over here for a while… mind if I join you?” She inquired innocently. He didn’t dare make eye contact- embarrassment flooded his every thought. He began to tap his fingers on the pad before him, looking for any excuse to not look at her. After what felt like ages, he finally mustered a quiet response.
“Sure.”

Just playing- I have no defense. Life is a bit of a fickle beast at times and regardless of how often you set yourself goals sometimes they’re just not in the cards. I’ve been fixated on the idea of restructuring my goals in life recently and I have had to pull my Soundcloud station for the time being. It doesn’t feel right keeping something floating on the interwebs without any sort of updates regularly being pushed- unfortunately trying to maintain your own little online radio presence without any takers for free hosting can put a damper in your plans, especially if you’re financially invested in something with zero interest. C’est la vie, as they say, so for now I’m hanging up that producing hat.

Hopefully I’ll continue to occasionally guest on friends’ podcasts- and with any luck, I’ll be a regular on my brother’s show, “Deep Breaths”, which is expected to drop any day now. Below is the artwork I prepped for said show. It’s an interesting one- primarily based around life’s philosophical quibbles and crazy conspiracies and ideas provided by a rotating cast of guests and all-around crazies.

It’s a lot of fun listening to what we have so far and I can only hope you guys find it as entertaining to listen to as I have. Jacob Pickle has been handling most of the production thus far and it sounds STELLAR compared to previous ones I have been involved with (not counting Kevin Zerbe’s… that man is just a wizard).

Keep an eye out for more content coming soon- including what will hopefully be the start of a slew of blog posts in the coming weeks. I have a new job lined up that will more than likely cut into any free time I have for this stuff- hopefully I still find some sort of way to maintain. We’ll see.

It’s strange to think that in 2017 this idiotic duo is still drifting aimlessly right outside of our zeitgeist. It’s even stranger to think that only a mere twenty years ago they were smack dab in the center of it. Yet here we are, twenty years after their (first) cancellation with the closest thing we’ll ever come to a “complete” set of their misadventures on DvD.The early 90’s was a bit of a renaissance period when it came to animation on television, particularly when it came to more adult oriented fare. While most tried their best to ape the success of The Simpsons with their “family oriented sitcom” approach (often to mixed results) Beavis and Butthead carved their own niche with their more pointed humor and subversive commentary… but more on that later.In some ways, like many classic animated mischief makers, the two are as hilarious and off-putting today as they ever were. Some of the concepts are relatively timeless and watching the two get under anyone and everyone’s skin still provides a plethora of laughs (depending on your wavelength) and cautionary tales abound; despite all the hoopla back in the day these two are never once positioned as role models. The show actively cheers for the two to never truly succeed (or score) at anything they attempt. While, yes, almost anyone who ever encounters them is usually worse off for it, it’s not as if Beavis and Butthead ever end up on top. That’s fundamental to good comic writing- it’d be tougher to laugh at some of the material on display if that balance was off.

That’s not to say it doesn’t have some problems. I can’t help but wonder if I’d feel differently about some of these critiques if I was writing this review back during the original run (1993-1997). Point blank- some of this stuff hasn’t aged too well.There’s one episode that springs to mind that involves the boys learning about sexual harassment only to sue a few girls from their school that have given them erections in the past. Ya know, because they felt sexual harassed. It’s only mildly offensive at best, but imagine the backlash if you tried that episode in 2017.Speaking of mildly offensive, the shock value that the show was once so popular for has all but faded in comparison to its more modern contemporaries. After South Park and Family Guy, it’s hard to really tell what all the fuss was about. It’s worth mentioning here that most of the edgier material has been completely dropped from this collection. Episodes like “Give Blood”, “Door-to-Door”, and “Down Mexico Way” are nowhere to be found here. As a matter of fact, there’s roughly 60 shorts missing (and 95% of the music videos they did commentary for are gone… gotta love those legal entanglements.) That’s a lot of missing content, and it’s worth noting if you’re a completionist looking for everything this show has ever spawned. (If that’s the case Google The King Turd Collection… you’re welcome.)I understand this is almost entirely subjective, but the missing shorts didn’t bother me quite like the missing videos. With the shorts I could at least understand Mike Judge’s reasoning for wanting to pretend they didn’t happen, most of them have atrocious animation and Beavis and Butthead are a little too easy to hate in these early shows. Thankfully as the show progressed they were dumbed down and mostly harmless, but in the early stuff… well, go seek it out. If animal torture and cruel mistreatment of others is your bag you’ll probably get a chuckle.

The videos are a point of contention for me simply because I can’t help but feel like the show was always structured around a certain formula. It never felt like a drag because regardless of whether the storied short felt like it was going anywhere, there were always hilarious bits of insight from Judge’s improv that helped ape some of the most ridiculous elements of pop-culture at the time. That’s where the shows best shined- there were true gems laced throughout those commentaries, and without it there is a sense of aimlessness throughout the straightforward episodes. It’s just watching one idiotic thing happen after another.That’s fine in smaller doses, that’s why it helped having those interstitials become such a part of the format. Without them… well, the flaws present in some of the writing becomes a bit more obvious. Episodes rarely end, they just “teeter” off the edge at some point while others just blatantly end before you even realize what was supposed to make you laugh to begin with.The movie and revival series are also included in this set as well, and since I won’t be reviewing them separately I need to at least point out that the film is still one of the finer TV-to-film adaptations floating around and the revival series held up remarkably well considering how much time had passed since the duo’s last outings. These episodes also include their video commentaries and nothing has been chopped out- thankfully, because they play much better for it.

I feel like I may be a little harsh on this series, but I assure you I adore this show and most of what came from it. It’s just become obvious with time that certain aspects haven’t fared well and much of the series has been restructured for this release- not always for the better.

7.5/10I mean, guys, this 16 (!) disc set was only $25 and for that price I can’t recommend it enough despite some minor quibbles here and there. Just don’t walk into it with your nostalgia glasses on and you should be fine.

Some work-in-progress stuff of Morbid the Ragdoll comic strips I’m currently working on. Hoping to have something more to post here soon!

And finally, the character revision sketch of Morbid herself.

In case you’re interested in seeing any more of this character, you can peep out the original appearance of her in this test strip I released back in I forget when.

1. “Oddities”

…I promise I’m taking it in a new direction. I was not a fan of that “pilot”. I had initially thought the concept of it being a somber journey into the heart and mind of this little creature required it to be a pretentious, self-serious affair. Clearly didn’t work- I don’t feel that lends itself neatly to the medium. You live and learn I suppose, right?

Look for more on this soon- hopefully someone somewhere digs it!

-Jeff

PS. I almost forgot to mention, but if you’re a “Coping” fan you may recognize her from this cameo in “#27: A Healthy Dose of Pediophobia”, an earlier strip from 2015ish or so.